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Top transport plod to probe Tory leaker's arrest

'Erm, whose idea was this?'

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The country's top transport police officer has been appointed by the Met to investigate the decisions that led to its arrest of Tory front bencher Damian Green last week for leaking Home Office documents to the media.

British Transport Police chief constable and ACPO crime committee chairman Ian Johnston will report interim findings within seven days and deliver a final report within two weeks, acting Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said this morning

Green's arrest has prompted fierce criticism from MPs on all sides of the House who view it as a threat to their duty to hold the government to account. Green and Christopher Galley, the 26-year-old civil servant who passed him several immigration documents, have both argued they acted in the public interest.

Home secretary Jacqui Smith has denied any prior knowledge of plans by counter-terror officers to detain Green and raid his home and parliamentary offices.

Stephenson, who wants to take over from Ian Blair as permanent Met commissioner, said: "I am properly concerned about the issues being raised within the continuing debate surrounding the ongoing investigation into the leaking of Government information.

"I have therefore appointed Ian Johnston, Chairman of ACPO crime committee and chief constable of the British Transport Police, to conduct an urgent review of our decisions, actions and handling of the investigation to date and to provide me with an interim report within seven days and a final report within two weeks.

"In the meantime the investigation team will be meeting with the CPS to review progress and consider next steps."

Johnston was assistant commissioner of the Met until 2003. The British Transport Police are controlled by the Department of Transport rather than the Home Office.

Tomorrow the Speaker of the House of Commons will make a statement on last week's swoop following the State Opening of Parliament. ®

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Latest Comments
Anonymous Coward

RE: @Iceland

"2. Take a look at the following graph and guess where Gordo came to power."

...or look at the following graph and guess where Tony thought "Oh crap, it's all going to the dogs. We're f*cked. If I bail now, Gordy will take the blame"

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Home Office traitors

Having a relation working in the Home Office and knowing that many of them are seething about what some regard as deliberate inefficiency in order to flood the UK with third world effluvia, it is hardly surprising that one of them does his patriotic duty and exposes the behaviour of civil servants who should be put up against a wall and that the aforementioned traitors would wish to use terror tactics to intimidate patriots who wish to expose treachery against the English. nation.

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Anonymous Coward

@Iceland

On Gordon Browns use of terror laws to seize the Iceland assets, two points:

1. He later had to lend them the money back after they threatened to take him to court. Misusing terror laws might work when it's one person against UK government, but not when it's a country against the UK government, since they could get UK assets seized anywhere in the world. I personally think he caved in and they let him call it a loan to save face.

2. Take a look at the following graph and guess where Gordo came to power. He may claim to be a financial wizz kid, but the people with money know differently and the Iceland thing only encouraged more 'terrorist' money to fly out of the UK to protect it from Gordo.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GBPEUR=X&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

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